Grants Senior Officer

• Participate in overseeing the development and delivery of all internal and external reports in collaboration with the Project Team Members, Finance, Project Management Office, Support Services, Procurement and other pertinent UNOPS Staff.
• Participate in establishing a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track the progress and impact of grants and capacity-building initiatives.
• Prepare regular reports documenting achievements, challenges, and recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Monitor implementation of grants and capacity building activities and proactively highlight activities that are at risk of getting delayed for internal UNOPS discussion and decision on further action.
• Work with the pertinent Project Team Members and UNOPS concerned departments to ensure that the grants information management and filing system is respected and all donor contractual documents, reports, key correspondences, etc. are appropriately filed in up-to-date and consistent soft libraries.
• Support the administration of reporting requirements within UNOPS as well as to the Donor.
• Maintain a comprehensive reports tracker and regularly communicate with all relevant team members about upcoming deadlines and specific report requirements.
• Contribute to the production of high-quality and well-written reports which meet donor and UNOPS requirements.
• Support in thorough review and confirmation that all reports and supplementary documents are complete and accurate.
• Support in coordinating the reviews and approvals of the reports related to Grants and capacity building activities by the pertinent Project Team Members, Partnerships Specialist and other pertinent UNOPS Staff.
• Support in ensuring strict compliance with internal and donor deadlines.
• Support the development and facilitation of annual Implementation Partner surveys measuring satisfaction levels on grant management services provided by UNOPS.
• Perform other related duties and tasks as needed.

Summary of Key Functions:

1. Setup of Grants and Capacity Building Activities
2. Management of Grants and Capacity Building Activities
3. Financial Management – Grants and Capacity Building Activities
4. Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing

1) Setup of Grants and Capacity Building Activities:

• In collaboration with the Senior Project Manager and as defined in the project grants’ strategy conduct comprehensive needs assessments in collaboration with the official counterparts from the Municipalities to identify potential areas of grants allocation in alignment with the SIMA Project objectives, development and humanitarian goals.
• In strict coordination and collaboration with the Senior Project Manager, the Partnerships Specialist and the Programme Management Advisor, collaborate with the official counterparts from the Municipalities, relevant Ministries and government agencies, communities, NGOs, CSOs, UN Agencies, and other stakeholders to align provision of grants and capacity-building efforts with the SIMA Project objectives, development and humanitarian goals.
• Plan and organize with other pertinent UNOPS staff community engagement activities (e.g. Focus Group Discussions- FGD, Key Informant Interviews- KII, etc.).
• Plan and organize informant assembly meetings with potential Implementation Partners (NGOs, CSOs, etc.) in accordance with UNOPS rules and regulations. 
• Use assessment findings to determine the areas of grants allocation and targeted capacity-building initiatives.
• In collaboration with the pertinent Project Team Members, determine the scope of the works of the Implementing Partner under each grant, scope of training under capacity building activities, as well as the technical specifications and requirements related to the provision of equipment and goods identified items and agreed upon with the Municipalities (e.g. ICT equipment, heavy machinery, and other essential tools/equipment/goods) required to enhance Municipal operations, along with detailed cost estimations.
• Participate in identifying and designing specialized training programs tailored to the unique needs of Municipalities, focusing on areas of interest and relevance to SIMA Project, and collaborate with UNOPS subject matter experts to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of training content.
• Inform and agree with the official counterparts from the Municipalities and the pertinent stakeholder about the scope of work, scope of training, and the equipment and goods technical specifications and requirements, where applicable.
• Participate in the evaluation committees pertaining to grants proposals and supply of equipment, goods, etc.
• Participate in planning, coordinating, receiving, inspecting and accepting delivered equipment and goods and liaise with the Municipalities to inspect and receive the delivered equipment and goods.
• Coordinate initial communication with Implementation Partners, ensuring that on boarding of new partners is adapted to the partners’ needs and is aligned with SIMA Project objectives and outputs.
• Support in drafting, preparing, and negotiating agreements and MOUs with official counterparts from the Municipalities and other stakeholders, if applicable.
• Prepare Calls for Proposals for Grants, include detailed scope of work, objectives, outcomes, activities, reporting and deliverables, monitoring and evaluation, payment milestones, etc. all in accordance with UNOPS Grant Management Rules and Regulations and Project Management Manual.
• Prepare, review and finalize Grant Agreements ensuring compliance with UNOPS Grant Management Rules and Regulations and Project Management Manual.
• Manage preparation and submission of request for grants’ approvals in accordance with UNOPS Grant Management Rules and Regulations and Project Management Manual.
• Manage the process for setting up supplier profiles including banking information of the Implementation Partners in the UNOPS Enterprise Resource Planning- ERP system.

• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in successfully planning, developing, managing, and closing grants contracts for donors, multi-sector working environments, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in drafting, writing, editing and compiling donor’s reports independently with minimal oversight from supervisors, including coordinating inputs and developing complex documents across different departments, is required. 
• Experience in leading the development of large multi-sector funding proposals is desirable. 
• In-depth knowledge of institutional donor compliance is desirable.
• Experience in Procurement processes under UN agencies or other international organizations is desirable.
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis is desirable.
• Experience in planning, managing and closing grants contracts for the provision of operation, maintenance and management of public facilities (e.g. convention centers, cultural centers, public parks, etc.) is desirable.
• Knowledge of UNOPS/UN rules and regulations is an advantage.